Questions for those who are or have received FAFSA

[BrightEyes]

I would like to go back to school and get my Elementary Education degree. I have done the FAFSA forecaster and found out that I qualify for my schooling to be paid, I might have to pay 2000 -16000 back in Stafford loans but otherwise, thats it for the four years. I work full time Mon-Fri 8-430 and cannot lose my job as I am the sole support for right now 5 kids, about to be 6 (two are my grandbabies). My questions is how does this all work? Do I apply for aid and then find a school, get accepted at a school first then apply? Can I apply now and not go until Fall or even next Spring? I am trying to find evening classes. Deadline for this year is in two weeks so I am kind of really short on time. I am looking at Marshall, WVU and Wv State.

[Advertisement]

[Jenefer3]

Definitely apply for aid now. I think you can apply even if you don't know what school you're going to. You can put it off until Fall but if you want to go in the Spring you'll have to redo the FAFSA next year (you have to redo it every year, or at least I had to).

[Shann]

I agree, definitely apply now. I think it does have a spot where you can put up to a few different schools, and I would put what schools you are considering. I'm going to wish you luck as the only thing I seemed to ever qualify for was student loans since either my mom made too much or I did

[sandooch]

My daughter applied before she was accepted to any colleges. You have to apply each year, too.

[sunniekiss]

FASA my favorite "F" word. I help my ds apply for FASA every year & I must use the "F" word a 100 times until it is complete.

In order to apply for FASA I believe you need a school code which you can only get once you are accepted into school.

[Jenefer3]

Okay, in the facts section of the fafsa site it says to enter in the school codes of the school(s) you are thinking about attending. So you don't have to be sure of which school yet, you can enter up to 10 school codes, and you can look them up on the fafsa site.

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/faq002.htm

[prcsanglas]

I get fafsa and am going for ece. You can apply now and put in three schools, then when you decide which school go back and change to just that school. You will have to reapply every year, in pa the deadline is may 1st, but it varies based on your state. If you apply now that will be your aid for fall 09 and spring 10. Then in spring 10 you reapply and thats your aid for fall 10 and spring 11. Sometimes if you have aid left they either issue you a refund or make you an account that can be used for summer classes. Hope this all helps and good luck.

[BrightEyes]

Thanks everyone for the information. It is really helpful. I did the FAFSA forecaster and it estimates I will get aid. It says college is like 10,000 a year and I would get all but 3000 in grants, the other 3000 would be Stafford loan. BUT I can apply for a TEACH grant that would cover that.

[IthinkNOT!]

Are you going to attend a university or a community college? I know here if you start out at the community college it is cheaper, which means you will end up with a refund for the semesters that you attend classes, which means that you could save that money in a personal account to go towards semesters where you have to attend a university. Also, with teachers being in high demand right now, they are recruiting from community colleges for people to continue on to 4 year colleges and offering scholarships and such. If you take courses that will transfer to a 4 year university, then you could later transfer in as a junior.

[sheila_361]

I got a subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loan for my Culinary school, but I will have to reapply again in Jun, and will hopefully qualify for a Pell grant this time around.

[BrightEyes]

Are you going to attend a university or a community college? I know here if you start out at the community college it is cheaper, which means you will end up with a refund for the semesters that you attend classes, which means that you could save that money in a personal account to go towards semesters where you have to attend a university. Also, with teachers being in high demand right now, they are recruiting from community colleges for people to continue on to 4 year colleges and offering scholarships and such. If you take courses that will transfer to a 4 year university, then you could later transfer in as a junior.

I am honestly not sure what to do, the whole college thing is so daunting to me. I graduated high school in 1992. I did the aid forecaster based on going to a 4 years public school. Is it more beneficial to go to a community school? Do you pick a major before you begin or do you take basics first like English, math etc? I know I need to make an appt wiht a counselor, I just have not had time with the craziness I have been living for the past 6 months